Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Acquired by Stanley Capital Management LLC

Stanley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 51.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 331,912 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 113,112 shares during the period. Centene accounts for about 3.9% of Stanley Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Stanley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Centene worth $20,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CNC. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNC. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Argus cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.77.

Centene Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of CNC stock opened at $61.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.